Shoffner v. Glenshaw Glass Co.

173 F. Supp. 850, 1959 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3363
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedApril 22, 1959
DocketNo. 14934
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 173 F. Supp. 850 (Shoffner v. Glenshaw Glass Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Shoffner v. Glenshaw Glass Co., 173 F. Supp. 850, 1959 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3363 (W.D. Pa. 1959).

Opinion

JOHN L. MILLER, District Judge.

Plaintiff, averring diversity of citizenship, brought this action to recover damages for personal injuries sustained as a result of the alleged negligence of the defendants. Plaintiff is a citizen of the State of Kentucky and defendants are respectively Pennsylvania and Wisconsin corporations. The accident occurred in Union County, Tennessee, on August 29, 1955, when a bottle, manufactured by Glenshaw Glass Company, containing beer, manufactured by Schlitz Brewing Company, allegedly exploded. Defendant Schlitz has filed a motion to quash the service of process and to dismiss the-action as to it, raising the question of' whether it has been properly subjected' to the jurisdiction of the court.

Rule 4(d) (7), F.R.Civ.P. 28 U.S.C., provides that service of process on a foreign corporation is valid if effected in the manner prescribed by the law of' the state in which the service is made. Upon plaintiff’s averment that defendant Schlitz had engaged in the conduct of business in the Western District of Pennsylvania, without having registered’ with the Secretary of the Commonwealth and without having designated an agent upon whom the service of process could be made, the court directed the Marshal to serve the summons upon the Secretary of the Commonwealth as statutory agent for the defendant. 15 P.S. § 2852-1011 (B). Plaintiff also caused the summons, to be served upon the S. & S. Distributing Company, described in the petition as an agent of the defendant. In the motion to quash and to dismiss and in the supporting affidavit filed by an officer-[852]*852of the corporation, Sehlitz avers that it is not qualified to do business in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, that it maintains no place of business in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and that it has never engaged in business here. It denies that the Secretary of the Commonwealth or any other purported agent had authority to accept servieg on its behalf.

Argument was had initially on Sehlitz’ motion to dismiss on December 4, 1956. No determination of the motion was made at that time in order that plaintiff’s counsel might develop by discovery procedures the facts necessary to controvert the denials in defendant’s affidavit. Since that time plaintiff has taken the deposition of Frank J. Spalla, a partner in the S. & S. Distributing Company, which is a local distributor for the defendant’s beer, and after reargument, Sehlitz’ motion to quash the service of process and to dismiss the action is again before the court for decision.

The testimony of Spalla and other facts before the court require a determination that the service of the summons and complaint upon the S. & S. Distributing Company was insufficient, on the ground of agency, to subject the defendant Sehlitz to the jurisdiction of the court. We hold also that while the defendant was doing business in Pennsylvania, the substituted service of process on the Secretary of the Commonwealth was not valid under the Pennsylvania law.

Spalla’s testimony shows that defendant sold beer to the S. & S. Distributing Company for distribution in Pennsylvania. It merely reveals the execution of contracts in another state for the sale of beer to the local distributor and a shipment interstate of the beer purchased. All purchase orders were subject to acceptance at the defendant’s home office in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The defendant Sehlitz employed a district manager and an assistant district manager who resided and worked in the Pittsburgh area and frequently accompanied agents or salesmen of the S. & S. Distributing Company on visits to retail and wholesale outlets. The defendant also furnished its local distributor with advertising pertaining to its products. Under the “Declaration Of Terms” governing the transactions between Sehlitz and the S. & S. Distributing Company, a buyer-seller relationship terminable at any time “without cause and without notice” was expressly specified. Under the same agreement title to beer sold passed to the buyer f .o.b. Milwaukee, Wisconsin, or Brooklyn, New York, where defendant’s breweries are located. The facts as developed thus far would not constitute the doing of business by Sehlitz within the meaning of the Pennsylvania case law. Cf. Lutz v. Foster & Kester Co., Inc., 1951, 367 Pa. 125, 79 A.2d 222; Motch & Merryweather Machinery Company v. Pittsburgh School District, 1955, 381 Pa. 619, 116 A.2d 733; Law v. Atlantic Coast Line R. Co., 1951, 367 Pa. 170, 79 A.2d 252; Pellegrini v. Roux Distributing Co., Inc., 1951, 170 Pa.Super. 68, 84 A.2d 222.

The catalogue of relevant facts and circumstances is not exhausted, however. While defendant relinquished title to its beer immediately on shipment to its distributor, under paragraph seven of the “Declaration Of Terms,” Sehlitz at all times retained title to “[c]ar heaters and bulkheads, and all barrels in which Seller’s beer is shipped to Buyer, and all bottles, cases and cartons for which a deposit charge is made on Seller’s invoice at time of sale.” Sehlitz also reserved the right to enter upon any premises where such property was located and to repossess it “with or without legal process” if it was not returned in accordance with the contract.

Thus it is seen that property representing a substantial investment and constituting an essential part of the defendant’s stock in trade is constantly being imported into, stored and used within, and removed from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. By contract Sehlitz may assess its distributor for losses to such property on which deposits are charged. It may even make a profit [853]*853on such transactions. We have no doubt that the use and location of defendant’s corporate property within the state are circumstances highly relevant to the issue of doing business. Cf. Hoffman Construction Company v. Erwin, 1938, 331 Pa. 384, 200 A. 579 (involving the requirement of registration of foreign corporations), and Walde v. Bowers Battery Mfg. Co., Inc., 1940, 337 Pa. 97, 10 A.2d 405 (involving a domestic corporation and construing the Act of March 17, 1856, P.L. 388, 12 P.S. § 1304, suspended by Rule 2200, Pa.R.C.P., 12 P.S. Appendix.)

Moreover, defendant Schlitz manufactures a product the sale and use of which within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is peculiarly subject to state regulation. For that reason commerce involving malt or brewed beverages may be viewed in a different light than the transactions involved in the Lutz case and other cases cited above. It has been held in Pennsylvania that sales by outside brewers to Pennsylvanians are not protected by the Commerce Clause of the Federal Constitution art. 1, § 8, cl. 3. Edelbrew Brewery, Inc. v. Weiss, 1951, 170 Pa.Super. 34, 84 A.2d 371

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Bluebook (online)
173 F. Supp. 850, 1959 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3363, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shoffner-v-glenshaw-glass-co-pawd-1959.